Credit where it’s due and Sir John Chilcot’s report into the Iraq war is no establishment whitewash, bereaved families of the 179 dead British service men and women killed in the conflict generously acknowledging the retired mandarin’s 2.6m-word tome thoroughly and fairly examines a terrible disaster.

And what a shattering indictment the report provides.

From the exaggerated intelligence deployed about non-existent Weapons of Mass Destruction in a bid to justify military action to Tony Blair ’s private pledges to a George Bush dictating the time table via the fatal lack of planning for an occupation which descended into a bloodbath, Britain’s brave yet poorly equipped soldiers sent to the frontline without the proper means to defend themselves, Chilcot is damning, damning, damning.

Hard lessons must be learned to ensure Britain never again repeats the mistakes of a catastrophe still reverberating today when anarchy in Iraq results in the continued loss of life.

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If we have a criticism of the inquiry, it is the panel’s remit didn’t embrace a forensic examination of the dubious legal case for war so on this pivotal issue very serious questions remain unanswered - lawyers preparing to fight it out in the courts.

The Daily Mirror refused to be swept up in the war hysteria orchestrated in 2003 by Tony Blair and his propaganda merchants, Chilcot’s searing conclusions an official vindication of this newspaper’s unflinching stand.

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Blair’s insistence he neither lied nor misled Parliament will be disputed by others reading the exhaustive evidence yet what’s beyond dispute is this former Prime Minister’s reputation is in tatters with an unrepentant Blair of Iraq tarnished forever by a headstrong error.

Tony Blair insisted he'd make the same decision again (Image: WPA Pool)

What a pity he didn’t take strength in Labour predecessor Harold Wilson’s perceptive refusal to be sucked into the US war in Vietnam.

Perhaps Blair finds personal refuge in his contentious belief Britain, Iraq, Middle East and the world are better places because of his decision, despite everything that went wrong.